Some things don’t change. Bayern Munich looked bad against Borussia Dortmund, just like they in every encounter between the teams last season. Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave the team hosting the German Super Cup a 2-0 win, although it doesn’t say anything about the upcoming Bundesliga season.
One can imagine why Bayern Munich looked so bad: Not the new attempts at another system change from Guardiola, but the lineup itself. Both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery didn’t play, while the Bayern Munich midfield lineup included Gianluca Gaudino, Juan Bernat, Sebastian Pode and Pierre Hojbjerg. Dortmund didn’t play with their strongest lineup either, but it was a unit that was well versed in what was expected of them.
Some bad defensive coverage and a big mistake from David Alaba allowed Dortmund to take the lead in a match they had complete control of, including possession in the second half. Mkhitaryan had no trouble breaking through the middle for about 30 meters in the 23rd minute, making his way into the penalty box. His pass to Aubameyang didn’t go so well, but the ball got back to him, resulting in an accurate kick to the corner.
In the second half, Aubameyang scored in the 62nd minute after a fantastic cross from Lukasz Piszczek, as the Gabonese forward rose high above the Bayern defense, which looked disjointed and disorganized all match long. Javi Martinez was injured after 30 minutes, and it seems that his run of bad luck under Guardiola continues, as rumors suggest he has torn a knee ligament, meaning he should be out for the season.
Robert Lewandowski starting and Mario Gotze coming off the bench didn’t really have any effect on the Bayern match. It did make Dortmund fans quite happy about what they saw, seeing the two “traitors” look quite bad, unable to change the flow of the game.
Worth remembering? Dortmund won the Super Cup last season but weren’t even remotely close to bothering Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga season, capturing an easy title. This is just mid August, and things will look very different once we kick it up into a higher gear.